


From Heaven Above

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Series: Winter Wonderland [5]
Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Communication Issues, Dialogue, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/M, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-02 15:05:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16789339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Being married is hardly ever easy.





	From Heaven Above

**Author's Note:**

> Slightly more serious Winter one-shot. Hope you enjoy :))  
> ([here](https://agilartlogbook.tumblr.com/post/180647574210/from-heaven-above) on tumblr)
> 
> Title: from a Christmas song that Kalafina sang and is part of their album 'Winter Acoustic ~ Kalafina with strings' ;)  
> THEME: patience.

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He would have liked to say that married life agreed with them, but while it had been true at the beginning, if he said that now it would have been a lie, and he wasn’t usually one for lying.

They had been married for almost two years and, the more time passed, the more Gilgamesh found himself studying his wife with something he could come close to call worry.

He kept observing her especially on this day, when an event was taking place at their house. He frowned, as he could see her in the room next to his, where some mongrel was attempting to ingratiate himself. She was politely ignoring him, while at the same time she was talking with three other people in three different languages, putting her skills as a translator to good use. Her dealing with so many tasks wasn’t the cause of his frown – he knew that Arturia enjoyed the challenge of making everyone feel part of the conversation, overcoming language barriers – because it was expected of her; what disquieted him was the fact that his observations kept leading him to the conclusion that his wife was not happy.

It wasn’t something that had emerged during the past few days either, it was an impression he had had for weeks now, and the main problem was, he had no idea about the reason behind it. Her behaviour around him was mostly normal, as she never shied away from his touch and kissed him back with obvious affection – and passion – when they had some time alone. It didn’t admittedly happen very often due to their different working hours, since he was usually at the office most mornings and early afternoons and Arturia was busy translating in the afternoons and late at night, but that had been the case even before their wedding.

It was therefore inexplicable that after more than one year of solid marriage, she suddenly appeared to be so unhappy for no reason, especially considering the fact that she hadn’t brought it up with him. It was true that, contrary to him, Arturia wasn’t used to show her displeasure openly, but she had never held back her emotions with him, which only made her reticence about her current mood more enigmatic.

Marriage was indeed a complicated matter, he considered as he kept his eyes on her, seeing how there seemed to be a certain slowness in her movements, as if she was tired and wasn’t able to be completely focused.

Deciding to marry could perhaps not be easy – though for him it had been the opposite – but it was definitely much more difficult to keep to such a commitment. He loved his wife and he knew she loved him as well; they shared physical intimacy and they shared their living space, which indicated a deep level of trust between them. Yet he couldn’t deny that there was currently something that she _wasn’t_ spontaneously sharing with him.

There was no chance he would however let his wife be stuck in unhappiness.

He couldn’t help wondering what it could be about, again studying her slightly forced smile as she kept entertaining some other guests. He briefly considered the possibility of a pregnancy, but then discarded it; Arturia was on the pill and had never showed any interest in having children, a sentiment he shared.

There was nothing to do except finding out the truth, and to do that, he would have to make her tell him herself.

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Their first real meeting had taken place at a similar party, when his company had hosted a summer cocktail event on top of its building. Arturia had recently been hired as a translator and he had already seen her a few times, but only briefly and always in a working environment.

It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time before their polite conversation – since he had obviously sought her out as soon as he had been told that she was attending the party – turned into a lively debate on countless different subjects. Several hours later, they were still deeply engrossed in it, and they had ended up even discussing marriage.

He had wasted little time in bluntly telling her that she should not only consider marriage, but also the person she would marry, whom he had strongly recommended had to be himself. She had looked taken aback, but she hadn’t shied away from the challenge, instead explaining to him what she thought of marriage.

He had been surprised to find out that she considered it nothing short of a cage; she thought of it as a clever trap that would force her to become a prize to show off instead of a person of her own. That had been why she wasn’t planning on ever getting married, _especially_ not to him.

There hadn’t however been any real animosity in her voice as she said that, therefore Gilgamesh had not felt like she had forbidden him from furthering their conversation on the subject. As he had illustrated all the reasons why her assumptions about his ideas of marriage were wrong, they had ended up breaking apart every little detail of her assertions and ultimately almost kissing.

A week later, they had been kissing for real, and when he had bluntly proposed three months later, she had accepted.

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Gilgamesh didn’t have the patience to wait until the party was over. He wanted to know why his beloved wife seemed to be so unhappy, regardless of the number of guests that were currently filling their house.

If he didn’t soon find out what was causing her to be like this, he would lose his mind, or worse, come up with some rather unpleasant hypothesis. He knew Arturia wasn’t the type to second-guess herself or her decisions, but he couldn’t help beginning to suspect it had something to do with their decision to get married. It was of course an outrageous thought, but since what mattered most was his wife’s happiness, whatever was causing her distress would have to be dealt with – _even_ if it was their marriage.

He barely mustered enough patience to let her finish her conversation with whoever she was addressing at the present time before firmly passing his arm around her waist, murmuring a few words into her ear and guiding her away.

As soon as he reached their room, he closed the door behind them, leaving the guests on their own and turning around to face her, still holding her close with one arm.

Before he could say anything, however, she commented dryly, “Was this display of possessiveness really necessary, Gilgamesh?”

His eyebrows rose at the way she had formulated her question.

“‘Necessary’?” he repeated, voice light. “You know that all I want is to speak with you alone.”

“Then why did you have to show off that I’m together with you with such an ostentatious gesture?”

There was something slightly aggressive in her tone, not leaning towards a challenge but an accusation instead. Gilgamesh couldn’t deny that he was surprised, even though his expression did not show it.

He didn’t usually do so, but since this seemed extremely important for her, he chose his words carefully before replying.

“I wasn’t showing off anything,” he said slowly. “You know that I don’t care at all about what any of those people think, as their opinion is neither important nor relevant. I would have put my arm around you in any other place, with or without their presence.” There was a pause. “Did that displease you?”

It had taken him a brief struggle before being able to ask that question, and he knew she had noticed.

“It did,” she answered curtly, not seeming inclined to add anything.

However, he wasn’t so easily deterred. He wanted to know what was wrong.

“Why is it something you dislike?”

She seemed honestly taken aback when he made it clear that he wanted to know why it bothered her, and her eyes stared into his, judging his sincerity.

Apparently she liked what she read in them, because she began, “You may consider it a show of affection, but that’s not what I perceive it to be.”

She looked at him again, and when it was obvious that he intended to hear her out – something unusual for him – her guarded expression softened slightly and he could feel her body relax in his hold.

“Displaying such blatant possessiveness in public makes me feel like an object,” she explained frankly. “It’s not comfortable for me, especially since it seems like you do it on purpose in front of other people.”

He frowned, truly not following her reasoning.

“I touch you in private as well,” he objected, but she interrupted him.

“Not like that,” she said firmly. “You don’t put your arm around me and guide me around in private. I don’t like feeling that you are giving me nothing but your condescension and establishing a sort of superiority on your part.”

He refused to let any of his tumultuous emotions appear on his face.

“Is this what has been making you unhappy?” he asked after a long silence, staring at her intently.

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise at his perceptiveness.

“You noticed that something was off?”

At this, he looked decidedly offended.

“You are my wife – do you believe I don’t care about you?”

She immediately shook her head, placating him somewhat.

“I know you care,” she clarified. “I do wonder _what_ you truly care about though.”

There was now tension between them once again.

“I knew what kind of man I was getting married to,” she went on, seemingly having decided to disregard the way he had stiffened and removed his arm from around her. “I know that you like there to be some physical contact between us. I like that too.” Her expression suddenly hardened. “But not in a way that makes me feel objectified.”

The silence that followed was deeply uncomfortable for them both, until Gilgamesh’s voice could be heard again, sounding very tight.

“Is this what has been weighing on you? Is my behaviour in public towards you what is causing you discomfort?”

At her slow nod, he let out a deep breath, almost astonishing them both.

He then said, with an ample smirk, “Good.”

Arturia gave him an incredulous look, filled with indignation and distrust, but he was suddenly pulling her towards him with his arm, the other hand going to cup her cheek.

“‘Good’ because now I know what has been making you unhappy,” he specified, his smirk becoming softer, much more similar to a smile. “And because it’s something I can remedy.”

Her eyebrows shot up, and he leaned closer.

“It won’t be easy,” he acknowledged with some grouchiness. “But I can endeavour to stop touching you in public, if you dislike it.”

“I do dislike it,” she admitted, tempering the words by leaning into his touch, letting his thumb trace her cheekbone.

Something pensive flashed through her eyes. “But I’m willing to compromise with you,” she said in all seriousness. “Simply make sure to touch me much less often.”

He nodded, startlingly displaying an equal amount of seriousness.

“That can be done. Not easy,” he emphasized, his eyes intense on her, “but manageable.”

She took him by surprise by pecking him on the lips. She was rarely one to be shy when they were alone, but she hardly ever initiated anything herself.

“Touching of any kind is fine,” she insisted. “It’s perfect, actually. Just not in public, please.”

After kissing her, this time slightly more deeply, he pulled away to stare at her intently.

“Impossible woman,” he growled. “Don’t make me worry about our marriage like this again. Just _tell me_ next time.” He seemed to think about it briefly before adding, “There had better _not_ be one any time soon.”

They both knew that it was more than likely for there to be _several_ next times, so Arturia’s lips slowly parted into a smile of her own as she gave a firm nod before kissing him yet again.

She had to stop the kiss once it became too heated though, breaking free from his hold and going towards the door with a slightly reprimanding glance.

“We have guests outside,” she reminded him.

Gilgamesh’s expression was a mix between deadpan and exasperated, knowing perfectly that he had just agreed not to touch her in public and they were about to go meet their guests once more.

His wife studied him carefully and then seemed to make up her mind.

“I’m sure they have been here long enough, and they have already given their support to the event the company is promoting. If you help me, we can send them away with a believable excuse.”

The grin that appeared on his face told her that he was probably going to cause quite some chaos in his endeavour to get rid of their guests. After all, now that everything had been clarified between them, he wasn’t about to allow those mongrels to take away the time he could be spending with his precious wife anymore.

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